Verizon Innovative App Challenge Selects “Best in State” Winners

Eighty-one middle and high school teams are one step closer to winning up to $20,000 in grants for their schools and a Samsung tablet for each team member after being named “Best in State” in the 2014 Verizon Innovative App Challenge.

Their app ideas will now move on to the next round of review, and the “Best in Region” winners will be selected and announced on Feb. 4. From the pool of regional winners, eight winning teams – four middle schools and four high schools – will be announced on Feb. 19 as the “Best in Nation” winners. In addition to the grant, each of those teams will receive professional support and training to help them build out their app concepts and bring them to life. Each student team member will also receive a tablet, courtesy of Samsung Telecommunications America.

In its second year, the Verizon Innovative App Challenge drew entries from nearly 1,300 student teams. The program was created in partnership with Technology Student Association and is dedicated to increasing student interest and knowledge in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects and mobile technology by engaging in an empowering learning experience. Students were encouraged to work together to find real-world solutions to obstacles that mattered to them.

The “Best in State” teams that do not advance further in the competition will soon have the ability to build their apps with the help of a self-guided app-development course developed by the MIT Media Lab’s App Inventor team. The course will teach the teams how to take their apps from concept to life, under the direction of each team’s faculty advisor.

To learn which schools were selected by state, see the complete list of 2014 “Best in State” winners.